Intermodal containers can be used in general to hold and ship various materials, including bulk materials, and can be useful as transport containers for waste material. A primary advantage of intermodal containers is the use of connector fittings at standard spacings, typically at each of the eight corners of a rectangular container or box in one of several standard sizes. The connector fittings enable the intermodal container to be affixed to mountings placed at the same standard spacings on movable chassis configurations appropriate for road, rail, sea or other transport, for stacking and the like. Likewise, the containers can be manipulated using lifts and spreader frames having grappling devices at the standard spacings.
Intermodal containers are used in various standard sizes. A typical standard container is a substantially rectilinear box and may measure twenty or forty feet in length, from four to twelve feet high and eight feet to eight feet six inches laterally. The typical container is made using steel plate, optionally with channel-like corrugations, and may comprise reinforcing and framing parts comprising rectangular tubing, angle iron, and bar stock.